[paddlepop]

sorry but i am so new at this i dont know if i am explaining myself properly!
I mistakenly saved a project in MM2 to "best playback for my computer" and then burnt it to a DVD using Sonic Now! But when i put that DVD into a stand alone DVD player it wont work. So i did dome reading up and i realised i was supposed to save the project to dv-AVI first, THEN burn it to a DVD so then I can watch it through a DVD player.
I guess what i am struggling with is that i cant seem to get the original saved movie(which is a .mva file on my hard drive) into an .avi file so i can then re burn it and start again.
does that make sense?
I dont have any of the project files anymore so i cant just redo the movie and save it the way it should have been done in the first place.....
PS i have realised that i have done all my home movies this way and now they have all been erased from my hard drive and are now on DVDs in the same .mva format.....

[DaChew]

I never have liked the cucusoftware, they spam it so much all over the internet and it's not that good for the price.

Helped a friend with this home movie problem, we were using an older jvc dv cam, it was a totally headache until we got a texas instruments firewire card, he just uses MM2.1 to capture to the hard drive as avi that's compressed for best fit?, then nero vision or dvdflick to convert to dvd compilation, nero burning rom to burn then after he checks the conversion, imgburn is a good free alternative to nero.

[Magikthise]

Originally Posted by rubeckf

I'm also a real newbie on this stuff and not sure if my problem is related to this or something else. I posted a separate thread last eve but have gotten no comments. I can copy a DVD on my computer with my plextor DVD/CD copier but then it won't play on my VCR/DVD player recorder on the tv which is a toshiba. I can copy one on that off TV, like a concert or something and it won't copy or play on my computer. They both say they use the same type DVD's and what I used for both is DVD-R DVD's. I also want to copy some of my old movies from VCR to DVD. Is there something special I need to do to get them to play? I haven't tried that yet. Then after they are on DVD I would like to copy some of them on my DVD copier on my computer. I use Roxio Easy CD/DVD creator 6 platinum. Thanks for any help with my problems.

Hiya!

I'm using Roxio EMC as well (just not the Platinum edition) so maybe I can help.

Is the video recorded from your plextor the proper format for playing on the toshiba? It has be recorded in the MPEG-2 format to play on most consumer DVD players. I'm not sure why the video you copy off the tv won't play on your computer, unless you don't have the proper video CODECS installed on your computer.

As for copying your movies from VCR to DVD I'd be tempted to do it the 'long way' to ensure a clean copy:

Connect your VCR to your computer using patch cord cables (I know Circuit City/Radio Shack sells cables with an RCA jack for the VCR on one end and a mini-plug for the computer on the other end), record the movie from the VCR to your computer (you should be able to use the 'Capture' feature in EMC for this) and use DVD Builder or VideoWave to burn them to a DVD. Just make sure you've got LOTS of room on your hard drive, 'cause we all know video takes up mucho space. And keep in mind newer VHS tapes may have some kind of anti-piracy 'bugs' (not really bugs, but I don't know what else to call them) hidden on the tape.

I create railroad videos using EMC and although I've got two hard drives on my computer (80gb and 200gb) I ended up getting an external 500gb just for my video editing.

Maybe someone else here can clarify what I've said or correct any mistakes I've made.

Hope this helps.

[tesuque]

i have some questions but it is 2008- does anyone read this? let me know and i will post. thanks, tesuque

[tesuque]

hi. this is so overwhelming but i am glad i am not alone in this. don't know why this is so complicated. i just want to click and save! funny...what a joke.

so, i just will ask about step one. but a firewire card or video card.

i have a sony camcorder. i have downloaded sony softward onto my computer.

i plug my sony cancorder with a sony tape(mini dvd) in it to the usb port and VOILA! the videos from the sony tapes actually appear on the sony software in my computer!

now, i also have panasonic tape(mini dvd) that i use on my sony camcoreer but ALAS, it can not get into my computer when i hook the camcorder with the panasonic tape (mini dvd) in it to the usb port.

and, if i want to download direct to movie maker, neither tape (mini dvd) will upload from the camcorder to it.

now is it because i do not use a firewire care or a video card?

i read that my camcorder might have one of these. i don't know how to check.

all i know is that one way works. but i want and need to download the panasonic tapes to my computer.

advice?

myriad of questions, but i will do this question by question, step by step.

thanks tech guys! tesuque

[DrRonski]

If you are running W XP, your OS will recognize your camera as soon as you plug it into the USB port. It has nothing to do with your computer's video card. Windows Movie Maker will show you what's on your camera tape, allow you to play it, download it etc. regardless of what brand of tape is in the camera. Once you download the tape to your hard drive you can use W MM to make a movie that will play on your computer or you can burn to a DVD and play on your DVD player.
The Sony software is an alternate way of downloading the camera tape to your computer. You don't need it. Windows can see your camera as soon as you connect it without the Sony software.

[DaChew]

many cams only support jpeg over usb and require firewire for dv

check your manual

usb is notorious for dropped frames as it's shared system resource where the cpu is doing all the work, firewire has the chipset handle the transfer freeing the cpu to handle any compression

[xpditer]

Hi,
My 1st post. How does one checkout, " You can skip all the detail here and go directly to "Quick Recap" if you are adventurous!", mentioned by Mulderator on this topic's first page?
Glad to be here. Will try to be helpful always.

[REDSKIN]

My DVD burner is not recognizing blank discs?

[lovelornpoet2878]

Okay, Mulder! how can I burn a region 2 dvd to make it a region free dvd? I tried changing it while I was burning it...I wasted about 20 blank dvds trying. I posted a tread, but I've had this dvd for 3 months now and can only watch it on my computer....I can't relax on my couch and watch it, I can't take it to a friends house and watch it. I'm growing very impatient with it. And if they would of had a region dvd that would work on my dvd player I would have gotten it, but they don't. The only dvd for that movie is region 2, which sucks! Do you know if it's possible to copy it into a different region?

[~Candy~]

I closed your thread. Please review the forum rules and next time, buy a DVD for your appropriate region.

[lovelornpoet2878]

The dvd isn't copy right protected and next time I'll buy a dvd for my appropriate region.....If they have one for the movie that took me 8 years to find. It's not a popular movie and was filmed in Australia, and it was shipped from Australia to me. There is no copy of it that is region1, region3, or region free cause it never made it that far. Some movies don't make the front page all the time. Why do you think it took me 8 years to find it! close my tread, I don't like this website anyways, too many people that take action before asking questions. Thank You For Your Help by the way. Virginia M. Wilson at lovelornpoet2878@yahoo.com

[DaChew]

region free dvd players and pal capable dvd/tv's are not against the law here in the USA

Interesting enough in OZ region restrictions from the MPAA are not supported by law there

[nycmoonstar]

Personally for video capturing on a computer from a camcorder or old VHS tape, I like using Firewire or USB Pinnacle's video capture device (Dazzle Creator Plus for composite and S video input) with its accompanying soft, Pinnacle Studio (for recording, video editing and MPEG/AVI encoding). The only thing is that Pinnacle Studio is huge. But it allows me to add a lot of stuff including voice-overs, subs, and video effects.

When my end goal is to burn a standard DVD disk for playback on a stand-alone DVD player, I either
1) capture to my computer first, encode a MPEG 2 file after editing on Pinnacle Studio and use Roxio to burn a disk. OR...
2) I just hook up my device to a DVD recorder via DV, composite, or S video, and record directly onto blank disks (though of course I cannot edit the movie.)

For videos that I shot on my camera, I can just transfer the saved vidoe files from my camera to my computer's hard drive first, then load them onto either Pinnacle Studio or TMPG Enc 4.0 (that just happens to handle .MOV input well) for editing and MPEG2 encoding. If I want to watch the videos on TV, I then burn a blank disk with Roxio.

[nycmoonstar]

Originally Posted by DrRonski

If you are running W XP, your OS will recognize your camera as soon as you plug it into the USB port. It has nothing to do with your computer's video card. Windows Movie Maker will show you what's on your camera tape, allow you to play it, download it etc. regardless of what brand of tape is in the camera. Once you download the tape to your hard drive you can use W MM to make a movie that will play on your computer or you can burn to a DVD and play on your DVD player.
The Sony software is an alternate way of downloading the camera tape to your computer. You don't need it. Windows can see your camera as soon as you connect it without the Sony software.

I have a question as I don't have much experience with Windows Movie Maker. By downloading, are you saying that footage on a 8mm tape is downloadable as a file through Movie Maker? Or you are talking about video capturing? If the former is the case, Movie Maker rocks!